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He added: “The papakha prevented [me], there was one in my left hand.”

Khabib proved too good for the Irishman in their lightweight title fight, only for the Russian to undo his good work with a moment of madness which has brought shame on the sport.

He threw his gumshield in the direction of McGregor’s loudmouth training partner Danis, pointing furiously at the American.

Refusing to let up, he clambered over the cage to confront Danis, but security staff were able to intervene before blows were exchanged. Having spotted Khabib, McGregor tore after him, getting as far as the top of the Octagon himself before he was hauled down.

The Notorious was then attacked by two of the Russian’s team, landing a blow on one before being hit by a sucker-punch from the other.

He was dragged away for his own safety by which point it seemed half of the 20,000 crowd had descended on the cage – along with most of the city’s police force.

Order was eventually restored and each fighter marshalled off the arena floor – but that won’t be the end of it. Just as it wasn’t the beginning.

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UFC chief Dana White said the winner disgraced himself after a stunning victory.

He said: “What Khabib should have done is pull him up and hug him.

“Even if you’re the biggest Conor fan ever you respect him [Khabib].

“He had the opportunity to walk out a champion and look like a stud instead of flying over the cage and start what he did. It should have been a different night for him.

“The Nevada Athletic Commission pulled footage from us and there’s an investigation going on. They are withholding Khabib’s purse, they are not withholding Conor McGregor’s. They looked at the footage and felt that there was no need to withhold his purse, and they’re keeping Khabib’s.”

The commission could hand down a hefty fine and/or a lengthy ban and Khabib could end up being stripped of his title. And White insisted three members of Khabib’s team, arrested by Las Vegas police and later released, may never get back into the US again after the chaos that unfolded.

UFC 229 will no doubt break the company’s pay-per-view record, but few people will be talking about Khabib’s dominant display.

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White said: “Did you see how many police were here? I don’t even know if the city was safe tonight. We had an unbelievable amount of security.

“We went above and beyond anything we’ve ever done in the company and they did a great job of containing it and stopping it.

“Once it starts it’s hard to stop and the team we assembled tonight did a fantastic job of stopping this thing and containing it from getting worse.”

It will certainly get worse before it gets better for Khabib, while McGregor fled the scene to lick his wounds and promise to be back for a rematch that will appeal only for the prospect of bad blood rather than as a sporting contest.